EDMONTON – A dozen teenage girls from the Edmonton area have come forward to police since child pornography charges were laid against a Kingston, Ont., man last week.

But Det. Kevin Fald of the Alberta Integrated Child Exploitation unit said he expects many more alleged victims to identify themselves and tell police their stories.

”I know there will be more,” he said.

Last week, Canadian and British police revealed details of an international online blackmail scam allegedly targeting more than 100 girls in North America and Europe.

Mark Gary Bedford, 21, is charged with two counts of luring a child, two counts each of possession and distribution of child pornography and three counts of child pornography. Additional charges are pending as police in Ontario, Alberta and England contact and identify more alleged victims.

Fald said a forensic search of the man’s computer allegedly revealed thousands of unidentified victims.

Police allege the man hacked into the girls’ instant messenger programs, pretend to be the user and coerced their friends to expose themselves through their webcams. Once the girls flashed the camera, the man would blackmail them to do more explicit acts or he would show the pictures to their friends and parents.

Some of the 12 alleged Edmonton victims had filed previous statements but didn’t have enough information for police to work on. But last week’s development sparked many to retell their stories, Fald said.

He’s credits two Edmonton girls, aged 13 and 15 at the time of the alleged offences, for helping to break the case as they reported their alleged abuse to police last year.

Other alleged victims have since been identified in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and Kent, east of London, England.